DOVER — Hurricane Sandy pummeled the region and state with high winds and steady rain Monday causing widespread power outages. By 8:30 p.m. there were more than 100,000 outages reported across the Granite State, with Public Service of New Hampshire alone reporting 112,000 customers, mostly in the southern tier of the state, without power.

In Maine, Central Maine Power Company reported more than 71,000 homes and businesses lost power as high winds from Hurricane Sandy ripped into the state. The brunt of the storm affected southern and coastal areas, with York County reporting 24,801 customers without electricity.

By Monday night N.H. Gov. John Lynch requested that President Obama issue an emergency disaster declaration for all 10 New Hampshire counties as a result of the super storm.

In his letter to the president Lynch states the steps he took prior to seeking the federal disaster declaration and why he is seeking it.

“On October 29, 2012 Hurricane Sandy, a powerful hurricane/tropical storm made landfall on the Eastern Seaboard and turned up the New England coast, impacting all of New Hampshire with heavy rain and sustained winds of up to 50 miles per hour, with gusts of up to 70 miles per hour. In conjunction with the rain and winds, storm surge along the coast of up to 2 feet, an astronomical high tide due to the full moon, and battering waves have and will result in coastal flooding and anticipated wide-spread property damage.

“By mid-afternoon today, all New Hampshire airports were closed and remain closed, over 70,000 homes and businesses are now without power, and the State's utilities estimate that several hundred thousand homes and businesses may be without power before the storm leaves New Hampshire. Six shelters have opened and staffed and/or supported by the American Red Cross, and an additional seven shelters are on stand-by to receive residents as the storm escalates. By 6:00 p.m. today at least 112 municipal roads and 18 state roads have been closed. Virtually all of the elementary and secondary schools in the state have closed and there has been widespread disruption to business.

“I implemented the State Emergency Operations Plan on October 26, 2012 in preparation for the storm. I declared a statewide State of Emergency at 10:00 am this morning in anticipation of the storm. The State Incident and Planning Operations Center (IPOC) was fully activated on October 28th and will remain open around the clock throughout the storm and during response efforts until further notice,” Gov Lynch writes.

“Local emergency management operations, including law enforcement and fire, are fully engaged in preparing for and responding to this natural disaster. There are multiple daily conference calls with all local emergency management directors, school superintendents, utilities, and federal partners to identify and coordinate storm response efforts. Preliminary damage assessments have not yet been completed as the storm is ongoing.”

Later in his letter to the president, the governor writes: “ The State anticipates that it may require the following direct federal assistance for its response to Hurricane Sandy: search and rescue, swift water rescue, hazardous materials response, emergency power generation, mass care and sheltering support, commodities and distribution, medical teams and supplies, evacuation support, emergency communications and other technical assistance.”

Earlier in the day, Gov. Lynch urged all motorists to stay off the road after 3 p.m. He directed the National Guard to place 100 soldiers on state active duty, with an additional 100 on standby to assist with the storm response.

Downed lines and fallen trees combined with heavy winds and rain led many communities and businesses to cease operations early Monday. Area dispatch centers were flooded with calls throughout the day with reports of downed trees and electrical wires.

Sandy's increased strength in the hours ahead of Monday's landfall had experts urging the public to take extra caution before the storm's full force was felt later in the afternoon. Tens of thousands of New Hampshire residents experienced storm-related complications well ahead of the hurricane's landfall.

Before noon Monday, Public Service of New Hampshire had reported more than 2,000 customers experienced power outages. Similarly, Unitil reported that despite restoring power to 1,400 customers before noon, another 950 outages immediately after kept workers scrambling throughout the day.

And things were only expected to get worse, especially for the coastal region.

“The vast majority of these issues are occurring in the Seacoast portion of the state,” Unitil media relations manager Alec O'Meara said. “We really didn't begin to see a substantial spike until this afternoon.” At approximately 3:40 p.m., 16,000 Unitil customers were without power. Two hours later, this number grew to 28,500 customers.

But Unitil's numbers were relatively small compared to those of PSNH. At 5:30 p.m. PSNH was reporting 69,107 customers, mostly in southern N.H., were without power.

“We really can't say when power will be restored at this point,” O'Meara said. “The peak hours of this storm will last for several hours with strong winds so we'll have to evaluate everything when it settles down. Our primary focus right now is making sure everyone is safe.”

PSNH requested an additional 550 line and tree crews, in addition to its own crews and its local contractors. Crews from as far away as Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas arrived Monday to provide further assistance.

According to the National Weather Service, the main impact of the storm reached New Hampshire around mid-afternoon on Monday and will continue through the early morning hours today. The Weather Service predicts wind gusts of up to 70 mph, with rainfall ranging from 1-4 inches and coastal flooding as a result of the storm surge.

“This will be a significant storm for New Hampshire, and we are urging all citizens to exercise common sense and extreme caution,” Gov. Lynch said.